Journal
The September Birth Flower: A Star, and a Vine That Won't Wait
September's birth flower is really two flowers — the aster and the morning glory. One...
Read more
Rose Color Meanings, and Who Decided Them
Red, yellow, white, pink — where rose color meanings actually come from, which ones changed...
Read more
The Types of Flowers I Reach For First
A florist's way of sorting flowers — not by name, but by what each one...
Read more
The Wedding Flower Checklist I Actually Use
Every place a flower has to be on a wedding day, in the order the...
Read more
The October Birth Flower Is a Marigold, Unless You Ask Someone Else
October's birth flower is the marigold, or the cosmos, depending which list you trust. One...
Read more
Tulip Meaning, and the Flower That Won't Sit Still
A red tulip has meant perfect love since long before Holland. Where the meaning comes...
Read more
Unique Flowers, and Why the Strange Ones Stay With You
Every so often someone stops at the van, points into a bucket, and asks whether...
Read more
What Los Angeles Wedding Venues Ask of the Flowers
Two very different Los Angeles wedding venues, read the way a florist reads them: ceiling...
Read more
The November Birth Flower Is a Chrysanthemum, and It Has Two Reputations
The November birth flower is the chrysanthemum — gold-named, cultivated in China since the fifteenth...
Read more
Wedding Anniversary Flowers and the Jewelers Who Invented Them
Carnation at one, daffodil at ten, iris at twenty-five: the wedding anniversary flowers year by...
Read more
Peony Flower Meaning, and Why the Victorians Called It Shame
Riches and honour in China, shame or bashfulness to the Victorians, and seven to ten...
Read more
The Rarest Flower in the World Is a Camellia, and There Are Two of It
Someone asked me what the rarest flower in the world is. The answer is a...
Read more